Hardcore fan spends nearly US$1,500 amassing stockpile of voice actress’ newest book, doesn’t know what to do with them all.

Once upon a time, good looks were about as important for an anime voice actress as they were for an accountant or a pharmacist. Sure, everyone likes a little eye candy, but back in the old days fans saw voice actress’ faces rarely enough that their attractiveness was generally a non-factor.

It’s a very different story today, as social media, online video promotions, and an unprecedented number of meet-the-fan events now mean that beauty is as beneficial for voice actresses as it is for live-action ones, which brings us to Yui Ogura.

https://twitter.com/OY_A_Official/status/999612738048442369

Granted, Ogura has a second reason for being photogenic, as she’s also an idol singer who performs live in concerts.

Last Friday, the 22-year-old Gunma native’s third photo album, titled Yui Pace, was released. With a dual theme of “graduation” and “journey,” the hook is that it offers fans a chance to see Ogura dressed in both summer and winter attire, having been shot on location in Hawaii and Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido.

Initial sales numbers are yet to be announced, but we know for certain that at least 50 copies have been sold. Why? Because that’s the number bought by a single extremely devoted fan, Japanese Twitter user @mbsn_pon.

@mbsn_pon is now the proud owner of so many copies of Yui Pace that he can use them to make the world’s most obsessive throw rug. Several others Twitter users have left comments calling him various mixtures of crazy and stupid, and @mbsn_pon himself routinely agrees with their assessments, since the 162,000 yen (US$1,490) he spent assembling his treasure trove of photo books makes it hard to argue otherwise.

So, other than laser-focused otaku devotion, why buy 50 copies of the exact same book? To open the door to other outlets of otaku devotion, of course. Ogura (who’ll be playing the female lead in the upcoming Goblin Slayer anime series) has an autograph session coming up. Each copy of Yui Pace comes with an entry form that can be used to apply to win her signature, and @mbsn_pon desperately wants to boost his odds.

It’s a marketing/fan tactic that’s long been used in the idol industry, but as much as @mbsn_pon may love Ogura, even he admits that he doesn’t need to hold on to 50 copies of the same book. Some Twitter users have tongue-in-cheekedly asked @mbsn_pon for one of his copies, and he’s promised to hook more than one of them up after he mails in the applications from them. “I mean, what am I supposed to do with so many copies?” he asks, but really, the fact that he didn’t think to ask himself that very same question before pre-ordering them is as genuine a mark of an otaku as you’re likely to ever find.

Source: Twitter/@mbsn_pon via Hachima Kiko